In Philadelphia, when you look at politics from the grassroots, the neighborhood to neighborhood level–two positions are highly sought after. There’s the position of Committeeperson, and there’s the position of Ward Leaders. Over my years of experience observing various Wards around the city of Philadelphia, the position of “Ward Leader” is a highly coveted spot–and in some Wards, the way people campaign to win that title, you would think they were running for Mayor or something.
For longer than some can imagine, Philadelphia was an “old-school” political city. However, in more recent years, changes have happened in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania politics that essentially demanded a change in “the way things used to be done.”
I can give you an example. Many years ago, I’m talking twenty-plus years ago. It wasn’t unusual for a Ward Leader to get a brown sandwich bag stuffed full of hard cold cash to help pay election day workers. Twenty-plus years ago, in the City of Philadelphia, if you were in certain Wards and were the Ward Leader, you could be the Ward Leader until the day you dropped dead if you wanted to because that’s just the way that it was.
Nowadays, a lot of that has changed. Case in point is the most recent Philadelphia Democratic Ward Leaders Election. First of all, know this. Ward Leaders are voted in by their political party peers. They’re voted in by committee people in the wards where they respectively serve. Democratic and Republican Committee people in Philadelphia were last elected during the Primary Election in Pennsylvania on May 17, 2022. This month, current committee people, elected ward leaders.
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